A History Of Liverpool Thespians - Arthur Askey

Arthur Bowden Askey was born on the 6th of June 1900 at 29 Moses Street, Dingle, Liverpool, and six months after his birth the family moved to 90 Rosslyn Street, Liverpool and then on to 58 Sandhurst Street a short distance away. He was educated at St Michael’s-in-the-Hamlet Primary School and at the Liverpool Institute where, legend has it that, Arthur and Paul McCartney sat at the same desk, albeit 40 years apart, with Paul later sending Arthur a telegram saying: "From the guy who inherited your old desk. It is still there with your name carved on it!"  

In 'Charley's (Big-Hearted) Aunt' (1940)

 

He began his professional career as a music hall performer in 1924, and married Elizabeth May Swash in 1925, but he didn't make his first film until aged nearly 40 when he made his debut in the 1937 British feature 'Calling All Stars' (1937) and became a household name in England. It was the film 'Band Waggon' (1940) that made him a film star which was a film following on from when Arthur and co-star Richard 'Stinker' Murdoch were evicted from their beloved flat on the roof of Broadcasting House, a spin-off movie from his popular BBC radio programme of the same name. Following that he starred again with Richard Murdoch as two Oxford scholars in 'Charley's (Big-Hearted) Aunt' (1940), a British comedy film directed by Walter Forde. More films followed with him and Richard Murdoch, 'The Ghost Train' (1941) and 'I Thank You' (1941), which also saw Moore Marriott and Graham Moffat, cast as the comedian's new sidekicks after they had ceased working with Will Hay. They once again played their respective characters of Harbottle and Albert. 

 

Film stardom carried Arthur through to the mid-1940s with 'Back-Room Boy' (1942), 'King Arthur Was a Gentleman' (1942), 'Miss London Ltd. (1943) and 'Bees in Paradise' (1944), ending the decade in 1947 with two shorts 'Arthur Askey on Going to The Dentist' - 'The Appointment' and 'The Waiting Room'. His daughter Anthea Askey was born in 1933 in Golders Green, London and featured in many television roles alongside her father as well as in the film 'Love Match' (1955). After appearing in 5 episodes of the TV series 'Love and Kisses' (1955) he starred in 'Ramsbottom Rides Again' (1956) and ended the decade in 'Make Mine a Million' (1959) and 'Friends and Neighbours' (1959).

Arthur also appeared in 4 short films for Pathe Pictorial No. 115 (1923); 'The Bee' (1937), 'The Nose Has It' (1942), 'Skilful Soccer' (1956) and 'End of Term' (1977). He continued to appear on TV in more minor roles but his last film was as Mr Arkwright in 'Rosie Dixon- Night Nurse' (1978). He carried on working on his comedy career until just before he was hospitalised in July 1982, owing to poor circulation, which resulted in gangrene and the amputation of both legs. He died in London's St Thomas's Hospital on the 16th of November 1982 and was cremated at Putney Vale Crematorium.

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2023/07/a-history-of-liverpool-thespians-vida.html